


For a Good Time Call Jack

by SophieHatter



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Accidental Relationship, Alternate Universe - Escorts, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Gigolo Jack, I know, Mutual Pining, Sam is in denial, Sex Work, Stupid fantasy, but i had to write it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2020-02-27 03:29:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18730810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophieHatter/pseuds/SophieHatter
Summary: Sam chewed slowly as she considered what Jack was telling her. “Do you have to do the physical part? I mean, if you ever... didn’t want to, that wouldn’t necessarily diminish why I hire you. That’s a bonus service, from my point of view.” Despite their apparent privacy at the rear of the bistro, Sam stuck to euphemisms for the nature of Jack’s bonus services beyond accompanying high flyers like her to business functions.“I don’t think there’s a lot of market for has-been gigolos, Sam.”“I don’t know,” she smiled, “I think you underestimate the value of your company.“





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Awful, awful sex-worker fic, but you can’t stop me from my business transaction to lovers fantasy.

Sam woke to the steamy smell of hot water and soap, stretching herself from top to toe before sitting up against her pillows, pulling the covers over her lap to ward of the morning chill. Pulling a briefing paper from the nightstand, she began making notes in the margin while waiting for Jack to finish in the shower.

When he emerged, boxers on, rubbing a towel through his short, silver hair, he grinned at the sight of her naked and chewing on the end of a pen, papers propped up on her knees. 

“Morning.”

Sam looked up and returned his smile. “Morning. You have plans for today?”

Jack paused, his hesitancy catching Sam’s full attention, causing her to lay pen and paper aside. 

“What is it?”

“Can I take you to breakfast?” Jack finally asked, eyes on the towel he was now folding. 

“But why... Yeah, breakfast. Ok. Just let me grab a quick shower.” Pushing back the covers she watched as Jack turned, discarding the towel to collect his tux pants from the floor and hang them in his usual garment bag.

“Jack,” Sam started to say as he moved towards the bedroom door.

“I left my shoes downstairs,” he threw at her, before closing the door behind him. 

Sam listened to his footfalls on the stairs, trying to work out what he was up to. She showered quickly, blow drying her hair just enough to style it in something passable for Sunday morning D.C.. When she emerged from the bathroom, both Jack’s garment bag and overnight case were gone. Hurrying to dress, she grabbed the first things that came to hand - jeans, a silk blouse and a blazer jacket - and clattered down the stairs in the nearest pair of flats she could find. 

Jack was waiting on the bottom floor, leaning against the back of her couch, overnight bag at his feet, garment bag hanging from the handle. 

“I called an Uber for us,” he told her.

“Right,” Sam mused, grabbing purse and keys. “My car service is taking the day off?” 

“I... “ Jack trailed off. “I’m paying.”

“What is...” Sam tried to ask at the same time the alert came in on his phone.

“Time to go,” Jack told her, sweeping past and out the door leaving Sam no choice but to lock her front door and follow. 

* * *

The Uber dropped them off outside his apartment and Sam opted to wait for Jack on the sidewalk, letting the sun warm her and the passing people cover her musing. 

She’d known where Jack lived for over a year, he’d let her drop him off here on a handful of occasions, and then there were the Uber trips she paid for. Going inside, though, was something she had never done. He’d never offered, she’d never asked. Except for this morning. Sam had refused as a matter of course, but once he had gone inside, she’d been left puzzling yet again.

“Hey,” his voice broke through her reverie and she reflexively smiled at him. “There's a place just around the corner.” Jack gestured and Sam began to walk, he fell into stride beside her, easily matching her pace.

“Have you lived around here long?” Sam wondered, tentative. She’d known him five years and yet she’d never crossed the line into private details before. 

“Yeah, a while,” he answered and then stuttered, “I mean, uh, seven years. It’s a good location. For work.”

Everywhere was close in D.C., but she could see why this was a good location. Nice neighbourhood, away from the notable people, yet close enough that his travel expenses must be minimal. Were they tax deductible? Heck, was his work even taxable? A long tamped down curiosity for the details and mechanics of someone in his line of work began to itch at the back of her brain.

“You own your place?” 

“Hum, yeah,” Jack admitted awkwardly. “I, uh, have a solid income.”

Sam giggled, the unusual awkwardness between them reducing her sense of humour to teenage levels. “Very solid,” she agreed, turning to see his reaction.

Jack grinned, shaking his head and held his arm out to her, the gesture so familiar that she placed her hand in the crook of his elbow automatically. “Just along here,” he told her as they rounded the corner and he led her into a little bistro, bustling with Sunday morning diners.

Seated in the rear courtyard, sun falling over her shoulders, they both ordered, waiting in silence until the waiter returned with their coffee.

“So.” Sam broke into the silence, spooning sugar into the mug, “Why am I having breakfast with you?”

Now it was unavoidable, Jack's evasiveness had evaporated.

“I’m retiring,” he told her. 

Sam kept her eyes on the swirl of the spoon in her mug as she processed this piece of information. Retiring meant that this very comfortable provider-client relationship that they shared was coming to an end. 

Right, well. Of course, it wouldn’t have gone on forever. She might have moved away from D.C. or Jack might have done the same. But retiring, it wasn’t something she had contemplated. Because their relationship was transactional, open to either party ending it at any time. 

And yet, five years and she was used to him, found his presence comfortable, his charm an asset to her work, his casual formality perfect for her needs. 

That Jack had plans, a concept for a future where escorting her and other, presumably, like minded clients was not something he did came as a surprise.

“Right,” Sam mumbled, trying to get her reactions in order. Business relationship. Ending. Ok. “Why?” She asked before she could quell the question, finally making herself look at him. Chocolate brown eyes framed by laugh lines, a ready smile that complimented the sharp, handsome angles of his face. And underneath it all a quick and intelligent wit that made him both a pleasant companion and an asset in the tête-à-tête of Washington social and business circles. 

Those eyes crinkled with something familiar - fondness? - and then Jack shook his head. “I’m getting old, Sam. It’s not as easy for me as it used to be.”

“But you’re not that old. I mean,” she stumbled, surprised at her own flush of embarrassment. “You’re not _old_ old. I like that about you. It’s... an asset. For you.”

“Thank you,” he acknowledged, as much amused as complimented. He paused as their breakfast was placed on the table, waiting until they had privacy before continuing. “You know how long I’ve been doing this?” 

Sam shook her head. Jack found clients by word of mouth. A friend had given him her number after Sam had complained one too many times to her about trying to find a suitable date for yet another necessary but completely tedious cocktail party. Jack chose his clients and that was nearly all she knew about how he ran his... business. For the past five years she texted him time, date and dress code, picked him up in her company provided car at whichever address he provided and paid the agreed amount for an evening out, with or without sleepover, into his account the following Monday. 

“More than a decade. And before that, on and off. It takes a toll,” he told her, matter of fact.

“Physically?” She asked, “Or...” Sam caught herself, but not completely in time.

Jack chewed slowly, considering her across the table. “You know, you’ve been one of the least curious clients I've ever had.”

Sam thought about that. “I figured that it’s none of my business. And it’s not like we have trouble making conversation about other topics.”

“Hmm,” Jack considered her with a raised eyebrow. 

“You’ve never volunteered more than was necessary, either,” she pointed out. 

“It’s my job to be interested in you, not the other way around.”

Sam poised, fork midway to her mouth. “I’ve never given you the idea that I wanted anything more than a professional relationship, have I?”

“No,” Jack conceded, turning his attention to the plate in front of him. “Well, no, it’s not a burden, not emotionally. But I've been taking less appointments over the past year. Not replacing clients who move on.”

“You’ve been reducing your workload? Why didn’t you say something earlier?”

“I wasn’t sure I wanted to quit completely.” He shrugged, “There are people in the industry, people like me, who like what they do, like doing it a lot. But there’s a certain physical level you have to maintain to keep working and it feels like that’s approaching for me.”

Sam chewed slowly as she considered what Jack was telling her. “Do you have to do the physical part? I mean, if you ever... didn’t want to, that wouldn’t necessarily diminish why I hire you. That’s a bonus service, from my point of view.” Despite their apparent privacy at the rear of the bistro, Sam stuck to euphemisms for the nature of Jack’s bonus services beyond accompanying high flyers like her to business functions. 

“I don’t think there’s a lot of market for has-been gigolos, Sam.”

“I don’t know,” she smiled, “I think you underestimate the value of your company. And your mind. Where would I have been last night if you hadn’t reminded me that that little twerp was Senator Kinsey’s son?”

His eyes softened with the compliment. “Well, there’s a reason why you’re among the last of my clients that I still see.” 

Sam might only be his client, but the idea that Jack had kept her for as long as he could made her insides warm. 

“Are you leaving D.C.?” She asked. 

“I don’t know. I’m going to take a couple of months and spend the summer at my grandfather’s cabin, work out what to do next after that.”

Sam used a corner of toast to soak up the last of her eggs while she thought. “If you come back and you still want to do the odd date, let me know? Or if you just want to... catch up. Sleepovers not required,” she added. 

Nodding slowly in response, Jack smiled. “Alright. I’ll let you know when I'm back in town.”


	2. Chapter 2

Ending the call, Sam let out a groan of frustration. 1.30 on a Thursday afternoon was a terrible time to find out that Janet, her business partner, couldn’t make make it to a Friday night, black-tie reception.

“Not her fault,” Sam reminded herself, pulling up her phone contacts and scrolling the list. Her thumb hovered over a name - Cam - and she hesitated before opening up the messaging app. 

When Jack had quit working back in April he’d referred her to Cam, joking that she was trading up, getting a newer and younger model. She’d avoided telling him that she didn’t want to trade up, a feeling that had become stronger after meeting Cam and going out with him twice. Jack had been right that Cam was great - handsome, debonair, quick with a joke or a laugh - but the second part of their transaction... was it weird to say that she had no chemistry with a man she paid for sex?

_**Just the event, no sleepover**_ she added to the text and then hit send.

Seeking out Jack had solved multiple problems for Sam. Committed to her work, she had no time for dating, let alone a husband or a family. But that left her constantly in search of a plus one for functions that her work demanded she attend. Or constantly open to offers from all kinds of people that she couldn’t afford to offend but really didn’t want to spend more time with than absolutely necessary. 

And then there was the sex. The dry spell that turned to drought didn’t begin to explain how long it had been since she’d had a decent lover before hiring Jack. the small social circles of D.C. meant that one night stands were fraught with consequences and there was no guarantee of quality. Jack was good, really good, in bed. Attentive, responsive, skilled and creative. Five years of seeing him once a month or so and she was yet to find him boring. And he’d seemed to like her company, that or he was a very good actor.

The phone in her hand buzzed and she swiped open Cam’s response. 

_**Cam: Sorry! I’m already busy tomorrow night. Can I recommend you someone else?** _

Her day was just getting better and better. 

_**Sam: Thank you, but I’ll just go stag.** _

Sam would have to fend off various inebriated and overly confident Washington pundits, but it was less stressful than establishing a third escort relationship at short notice. 

_**Cam: Alright. I’ll look forward to seeing you next time.** _

An hour later Sam was composing notes for a meeting in the morning when her eye fell on the date at the top of the page. 

August.

It was a unlikely to work, but worth a try. The summer wasn’t quite over yet, but maybe he’d come back to D.C. already.

_**Sam: Hi! How’s retirement treating you? I know it’s a long shot, but you wouldn’t happen to be back in town and free tomorrow night, would you?** _

Sam read over the text and hit send. She stared at the screen of her phone until it locked, nudging her back into reality and the work that she had to finish before her assistant went home. Absorbed, the message went forgotten until the phone vibrated as Walter put his head in to wish her good night.

Thumbing her phone open, she returned Walter’s farewell, only remembering that she had texted Jack when she looked down to read the message. 

_**Jack: Free but not in town, regretfully.** _

A photo loaded below the text - crystal clear blue skies and jagged mountain peaks topped with snow.

_**Jack: Cam not looking after you?** _

_**Sam: Wow. Gorgeous view.** _

_**Sam: Cam’s fine, I just needed company on short notice and he couldn’t make it.** _

_**Jack: Want me to hit up my friends for you?** _

Typical Jack, he’d always been comfortable with what he did, or had done, Sam amended to herself. He forgot that he’d been her first escort and probably didn’t realise that, for her, it wasn’t that easy to chop and change. Jack had been her paid date for so long that he’d become part of her social strategy. She hadn’t achieved that with Cam, yet, and the idea of breaking in a third just wasn’t appealing.

**_Sam: No need, I'll just wing it on my own._ **

_**Jack: If you say so. Who’s going to remind you not to pour your drink in the lap of some senator’s twerp of a kid?** _

_**Sam: You retired, remember? You no longer have any say over whose lap I pour my drink into.** _

**_Jack: Pity. I’d have liked to have seen you do it just once._ **

_**Sam: Call me when you’re back in DC and I'll see if I can arrange it.** _

_**Jack: You’re on. Take care and don’t miss me too much.** _

_**Sam: You certainly don’t miss us, not with those mountains as your back yard.** _

He replied with a thumbs up emoji and Sam closed the series of messages. 

That was the problem, she thought to herself while looking at Jack’s view at one am on Saturday morning. Maybe she did miss Jack, just a bit. 

* * *

Just when he’d stopped thinking about her, there was Sam’s name coming up on his phone. Minnesota wasn’t far enough away, after all.

Jack snorted. Who was he kidding? The only reason he’d stopped pulling up her name and trying to work out what to say to her was because he’d made a deal with himself to call her when he got back to D.C.

Back to D.C.. That had never been Jack’s plan. Leaving the social machinations and artificial people who congregated around the national capital had been the plan. A plan, he defended to himself, that had worked in all instances except one.

The one being Samantha Carter, Chief Engineer and co-founder of Stargate Enterprises, NASA and Defence Department research contractor. 

When Jack had realised that he could no longer maintain a sharp line between his work and his feelings for a client he usually ended things. There was a lot that he liked about his work - the clients (mostly women), the sex (a lot) and getting paid to do it had been the perfect job for him for a very long time. Avoiding entanglements wasn’t just smart, it was the right thing to do. 

A couple of horrific breakups and a divorce had taught Jack the hard way that no, actually, the general public couldn’t tell the difference between sex for work and sex for love. It was why so many people in the sex business only had relationships with each other. And it was why, after Sara, Jack left any client when personal feelings, from either party, became involved. 

Except this last time. Sure, it was a physically taxing line of work that was becoming more difficult as Jack aged. He _had_ been thinking about retiring to the cabin in Minnesota for the last few years. 

But, if he was truly honest with himself, he could’ve retired a year or more ago. He hadn’t because to stop working and move up here would mean leaving her. 

So instead of staying in Minnesota, staying retired, Jack had a ticket booked to return to D.C. at the end of the summer.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys are ridiculous and I love that you love my stupid escort love story. <3

Sam ignored the buzzing message alert until she reached the end of her block and started her cool down. Saturdays, she reasoned, meant that whatever it was could wait the couple of minutes until her run was done.

This message, however, was one that made her pause in surprise, bringing it up on her phone as she climbed the stairs to her front door.

_**Jack: Should I be scanning the gossip sites to see which senatorial twerp got a lap full of champagne last night?** _

Kicking off her running shoes, Sam paused to compose a reply.

_**Sam: There was no one worth wasting it on.** _

_**Jack: Saving it up for when I'm back, then.** _

_**Sam: If you come back, I'll be sure to select a worthy target.** _

After tossing her phone on the bed, Sam stripped and stepped into the shower. It was odd for Jack to text her, something she pondered while rinsing out her hair. He must be missing the hustle and bustle of Washington. It was hard to imagine someone as active and intelligent as Jack becoming a mountain hermit overnight. Briefly, Sam wondered what he did for company all the way out in the boonies but she quickly turned her thoughts aside. She’d never wanted to know who else he saw before and now was definitely not a good time to start.

_**Jack: Go ahead and pick one, I'll be back in September.** _

When her heart jumped at reading the text, Sam dropped the phone back on her bed. Dressing, she repeated the same mantra over and over in her mind. 

_She did not miss Jack. She missed Jack’s skills and abilities._

Sam needed his expertise. That was the only reason she texted with him throughout the day, making plans, discussing business contacts and influential senators. Definitely the only reason.

 _His skills and abilities_ , she reminded herself when going to bed that night.

All of them. Maybe he’d still do sleepovers, just for her. 

* * *

There was a bite in the evening air already but Jack savoured it as he lounged on the porch, nursing a beer and looking up at the stars. Here, they outshone everything, the ghostly sweep of the Milky Way clearly discernible. He barely ever looked up at the night sky in D.C., the light pollution erased the pale path in the sky and all but the brightest stars. 

Sam would like it out here. They could set up the telescope and take turns hunting for galaxies. This last year he could see her brightness and passion for space fading, replaced with a weariness that came from playing the Washington game seven days a week for six straight years. 

Was Cam helping her unwind? Did he let her curl up around him and soothe her through the dreams that made her whimper in her sleep?

Some random sense memory conjured the smell of her hair and his cock twitched in response. Damnit if this wasn’t the dumbest part of his retirement plan. From sex for hire to celibate hadn’t been something that Jack had considered carefully enough. 

For a moment he considered driving in to town and finding company for the night at Sly’s Bar, but he knew his heart wasn’t really in it. He would just end up thinking of Sam and he could get by with the help of his hand without bringing some unknowing substitute into the middle of it. Maybe it was professional pride that made him want to do it properly or not at all. Maybe he just wanted something he couldn’t have, so nothing else was good enough. 

As they’d texted over the weekend Sam had sent him some pictures. Nothing salacious, just mundane stuff. Her new running shoes, the pot plants on her kitchen windowsill (he was always amazed that she remembered to water them), an evening gown that she’d picked up for the annual fundraiser at the National Air and Space Museum.

Jack knew he’d be back in D.C. that night, but he hadn’t mentioned it. She’d probably already lined up Cam and he was reluctant to steal the guy’s business for his own selfish reasons, even if it was his favourite of the regular events he’d attended with Sam over the past five years. The guests of honour were typically big names in the space community and they both got a kick out of meeting them. 

That they were both space junkies had been the initial bridge between them and, once she’d learned that Jack’s interest extended to following what was happening with public sector astronomy, Sam had begun to rely on him for more than his pretty face. Or so she’d told him while she rode him into oblivion the first night he’d talked Kinsey, the chairman of the Senate Defence Committee, into conceding the need for Stargate Enterprises’ newest satellite guidance software. 

Dammit if the memory didn’t have him growing hard in his pants. The sway of her body over his, the sight of her breasts jutting upward as she arched in orgasm, the soft brush of her blonde hair against his face as she’d thanked him, breathless and shuddering from aftershocks as he caressed the skin of her back.

The smell of her hair, her sweat was back and had Jack pulling his cock from his pants and slowly stroking as he gave in to the memories. Sam was so responsive, he loved teasing her, making dirty, filthy things tumble from her mouth when just an hour earlier she'd been shaking hands with the upper echelons of the US Government. 

Sam had an essence, a type of power, that caught men, and some women, in her spell. It was a non-transferable, priceless asset in her line of work. 

But only Jack got to experience that essence in all its raw beauty and each day he was more convinced that he couldn’t live without it. Without her. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At least one more chapter, maybe two? I doubt you guys will be complaining. ;)

On his first full day back in D.C., Jack woke early and headed to the gym. There was no firewood to cut or repairs to make here. He would miss running the trails, too, but unless he snowshoed it he would soon be unable to do that anyway. 

Stepping out of the locker room and into the gym proper, Jack felt a strange mix of emotions at seeing that Cam was there too. A stab of jealousy warred with yearning for any news of how Sam was. Swallowing and schooling his features, Jack made his way over to the younger man. 

“A bit early for you isn’t it, Cam?”

“Jack!” Cam pulled himself up to sitting. “I wasn’t working last night, needed to burn off some energy. I wasn’t sure we’d see you back here.”

Tossing his towel on to the bench, Jack began a series of warm up stretches. “I’ve got some things to sort out. Besides, I'm not sure if I want to spend the winter alone, snowed in in the backwoods.”

“Retirement not so easy as it sounds?” Cam wondered with a knowing chuckle.

“Definitely a shortage of company, paying or otherwise,” Jack confirmed. “You looking after my clients?” He shifted onto the machine beside Cam and adjusted it before beginning to lift.

“Oh, yeah. Business is alright.” Cam’s voice belied a touch of weariness as he resumed his exercises. 

“What?” Jack wondered. “I gave you my three best clients. Louisa’s not cancelling you at the last minute, is she? I thought we’d come to an understanding over that.”

“No, it’s not Louisa, it’s your space girl, Samantha.”

Jack stopped and twisted to look at Cam. “Sam? She’s the last person that would be a problem.”

“Don’t get me wrong, she’s a good client and I don’t mind just doing events if it’s during the week. But she’s booking me for events only on a Friday and that’s a lot of money I don’t get for an overnight.”

Cam wasn’t doing sleepovers for Sam. Jack reasoned that that shouldn’t make him as happy as it did be cause it meant she was missing out on the chance to let her hair down. Even as he thought that, a primal satisfaction settled in his chest below the fluttering beat of his heart. Sam preferred sex with him to Cam. 

“I dunno what to say, Cam. Maybe her workload’s been getting too much.” A plan began forming in Jack’s mind. “Say, what are you doing with her next?”

“A fundraising gala at the Smithsonian, Friday after this.” 

“I don’t think Sam’d mind if I took her. Do you want me to step in?”

Cam’s mouth widened into a smile at the offer. “You must be bored after being out there in the boonies.”

“Hey,” Jack tried to shrug it off, “I like the Smithsonian.”

“If you’re looking for some pocket money, you’re welcome to take Sam. I won’t have any trouble picking up another date.”

The jealousy eased off as he thanked Cam, quietly glad that the other man wasn’t getting possessive over Sam or the Air and Space Museum fundraiser.

“I even know how to do the substitution so she won’t be disappointed, if you’re willing to try a little subterfuge,” Jack suggested. 

Cam leaned in, “Sounds like fun. What did you have in mind?”

Jack left the gym that morning with a spring in his step. Nine days until the gala and Cam had agreed to go along with his plan. He was getting a second chance with Sam and he wasn’t going to screw this one up.

* * *

Sam shifted restlessly in her bed, turning to look again at the time. 1:24 am - less than half an hour since she’d last looked. These bouts of insomnia were getting thoroughly irritating. She was exhausted during the day and but then unable to sleep at night. 

There was a restlessness in the small of her back that made her want to run until the exhaustion of exercise overcame her, but 1.30 in the morning was a stupid time to be out running. 

With a frustrated grunt, Sam pushed herself upright and flicked on her bedside lamp. She’d read a couple of articles about insomnia and one of the things they all said was to do something other than lying in bed and watching the clock. Running was out of the question, she was a lousy cook and work was what was keeping her up: she didn’t think delving into it would help her get to sleep. 

What relaxing things could she think of? Meditation - too sedentary. Warm milk - ick. Orgasm - the idea made her laugh, that kind of release had been eluding her for months. A shower, she mused, was a viable option. Janet had an obsession with trying whatever the latest wonder beauty product was and she fobbed off all the ones she grew tired of on Sam. There must be something indulgent amongst it all. Something with lavender or camomile - those were supposed to be relaxing, right?

Sam got the shower warming up as she dug through the cupboard under the sink. There were moisturisers and age defying creams, makeup remover and even a massage oil. Sam tried not to picture Janet using that with Annelise; there was no need for her to picture her best friend and her best friend’s wife smoothing oil all over each other.

A bottle almost in the back caught her eye and Sam pulled it out, relieved to find something intended for showering. The brand was unfamiliar, but then nearly everything Janet gave her was a mystery in a bottle. 

Under the hot water, Sam cracked open the bottle and began to lather some of the contents in her hands. It was scented with something comforting and familiar but it wasn’t the product really heated up in the steam that full recognition came to her. 

This was Jack. Well, not Jack but whatever this was smelled so quintessentially of him that she could have sworn he’d been in the shower before her. The smell brought him so clearly to mind that, when she closed her eyes, she could conjure the silver shine of his hair, the smiling eyes and that wicked grin he gave her when she’d orgasmed from just his mouth. 

There was more than the shower getting her wet. 

Before she had really set her mind to it, Sam was smoothing the lather over her skin, feeling Jack touching her, cupping her breasts and slowly circling his thumbs over her nipples, pressing just enough to make her wanton and have her cursing his name.

His chuckle was in her ear as his lips moved over her neck, rilling her up until she groaned in frustration. Then one of Jack’s hands would move lower, caressing the skin of her stomach, fingers splayed wide over her pelvis as he ground his erection against her.

_“Feel that? God, you make me hard Sam. The idea of sliding inside you, hot and wet for me.”_

_“Unless, you don’t want it?”_

He would tease her, fingers sliding downwards, tormenting her with their slow progress towards her curls. A firm pinch and tug on her nipple would have her cursing him again and then his fingertip would breech her slit and he would moan into her skin, breath hot.

 _“Yes, you want it. But how? Slow, sensuous, melting under my fingers?”_

He circled her clit, sliding lower to gather up her wetness, returning to circle her again as he sucked slowly on the skin of her shoulder.

_“Or maybe you want a good fucking? Bent over, spread open, taking my cock hard and fast, leaving you feeling me tomorrow.”_

Fingers pinched down on her nipple, twisting and pulling, his hand spreading her lips open, two fingers delving into her, fucking her entrance in an echo of his cock.

Head against the tiles, Sam found herself with her hand between her legs, using her fingers to bring herself to a shaking climax. With a final twist of her hand, dragging on her nipple, she came with a hoarse cry, eyes closed. The hot water washed over Sam as her breathing settled and she pulled her fingers from where they were plunged deep inside herself.

Dazed, she fumbled for the mixer and turned the water off, towelling herself dry in a post orgasm oblivion.

Slipping back into bed, she shivered at the sheets that had grown cold, only then reminded that Jack wasn’t there to curl up against. 

What had she just been doing? Sam had never had sex with Jack in the shower, so why had she slipped so easily into that fantasy?

Turning over, she draped her arm over her pillow, the scent of Jack filling her nose again. He must have left that bottle here at some point, left it behind in her cabinet like the memories she had of him. Hidden away, meant to be forgotten yet tripping her up unexpectedly.

Where was Jack now? Stargazing at his cabin? Stoking the fire of a pot-bellied stove? Sleeping or... lying awake, just like she was, thinking of her?

Ridiculous, Sam huffed to herself. Jack was hundreds of miles away, soaking up the fresh mountain air and glorying in the gorgeous vistas he could see from his cabin. Hiking, fishing, chopping wood...

Visions of Jack and all the things he could be doing instead of thinking of his old clients filled her mind until sleep crept over her and she was there with him, in her dreams.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your patience! The Hatter family had a couple of different illnesses but we are all better and I can get back to updating for you all, my ridiculous readers. Enjoy!

Sam suppressed a mild surge of annoyance as she pushed through the crowd in the entrance hall. Cam’s offer to meet her under the _Ad Astra_ sculpture outside hadn’t mentioned that the drive on that side of the Air and Space Museum was closed for construction. Now she had been forced to show her invitation and make her way through the crowds just to meet him. It all added to the growing feeling that things weren’t working out between them and maybe she needed to find another reliable date better able to meet her needs. 

Scaffolding protected her from the work going on above the entrance, a faint whiff of cigarettes coming from the smokers standing out by the gutter, closed as it was to vehicular traffic. Taking the stairs down to the sculpture’s base, she chided herself for being irked with Cam. It wasn’t his fault that the man she wanted to be with was living his best life in the Minnesota wilderness while she toiled on with bids for Defence Department contracts and presentations to Congressional sub-committees. 

At the bottom of the stairs, Sam cast her eyes up the height of the sculpture, settling on the illuminated stars at its zenith. It was prettier at night, she thought. Here, in this moment, a suitable substitute for the light washed skies above the nation’s capital.

“You outshine them, Sam.”

Her heart stopped as she recognised that voice, warm like amber whiskey, setting her insides alight and her spine tingling as pleasurably as an expensive, barrel aged liquor. 

“Jack.” Sam turned to him and he stepped away from the sculpture, breaking his too-casual lean against its base. When her heart started beating again, the rush of it left her light headed, unable to form any more words.

He reached for her hand, brushing his lips over her knuckles as he bent forward. Keeping a hold of it as he looked back to her, Jack smiled as he caressed the back of her hand with his thumb.

“Surprise,” he told her gently. “I hope you don’t mind the substitution.”

“Holy Hannah, of _course_ not,” she smiled, resisting the urge to grab his lapels and demonstrate how much she didn’t mind. Instead, Sam ducked her head, hoping he didn’t see the sudden rush of emotion that had bubbled up into her chest making it hard to breathe. “You didn’t tell me you were back in D.C..” 

“I’m not back here working,” Jack told her. 

Sam’s brow furrowed as she looked up at him, the uncertainty plain on her face. 

“I’ve got some ends to tie up, decisions to make.” He tugged on her hand, pulling it into the crook of his arm as he turned. “And I wanted to see you in that dress. You’re stunning, by the way,” Jack added, leaning in close, his breath brushing the sensitive shell of her ear. “You could have anyone you wanted here.”

The warmth of his breath raised goosebumps and Sam shivered, a tingle settling at the base of her spine, an itch that yearned for the sweet relief the man beside her represented. 

_I only want you._

The thought came to Sam unbidden, the emotions in her chest coalescing into a tight knot of need. She had missed Jack, far more than she had been able to admit until this moment. Now, with her arm in his, she never wanted to let him go again.

“You alright?” Jack paused before the door to the main hall and Sam halted automatically beside him, trusting his guidance. 

“What?” She wondered when she realised Jack was expecting her to say something.

“You’re atypically quiet.”

Sam raised her eyes to his and caught his expression, his face crinkled in concern. Trying to think of what to say - anything other than _Why are you here?_ \- she pulled on her bottom lip. Jack’s gaze dropped to her mouth and he leaned his head closer and Sam tightened her grip on his arm, pulling herself up the last half inch to match his height...

From inside, the public address system invited everyone present to make tonight’s guest speaker welcome and the resulting applause shattered the moment between them. 

Jack instead pressed his lips to her cheek and murmured, “Later,” before guiding her inside to stand at the back of the assembled guests. 

Later. Later _what?_ Sam mused, unable to focus on anything but her thoughts. Jack wasn’t working and yet he was here, attending to one of his old clients. _Loose ends, decisions to make._ What did that mean? She wasn’t a loose end. Did that mean she was a decision? And if he wasn’t working, then what happened at the end of the night? She had only booked Cam for the event, after all. 

“I can hear you thinking,” Jack murmured, his lips barely moving. Sliding his arm around her waist he let his nose brush through her hair. “When did you last unwind properly?”

_Not since you left_. Sam found herself chewing on her lip again, holding back the words. It was his long honed skills, she reminded herself, that made her feel like she was the centre of his universe. Jack treated all his clients the same, as if they were a goddess and he their pitiful supplicant. It’s why he was never wanting for work.

“Been a while,” Sam replied, wondering if Jack might let her take him home after all. 

His finger tip drew slow circles over the fabric on her hip and Sam found herself readjusting her stance, her body starting to ache for his. Jack sensed the change in her and brushed his lips over her ear. 

“Later,” he repeated, just for her to hear. 

A shiver ran through her again and Jack’s fingers spread over her hip, pulling her into his side, his body warm and grounding. Sam closed her eyes briefly, letting her other senses drink him in, let the slow thump of his heart regulate hers as she leaned against his shoulder, let the sound of his low chuckle reverberate through her and summon all the nights that they had done this together. Jack as her rock and rear guard, Sam on point, laying out strategy. 

When she opened her eyes again, she felt more present than she had been in weeks, her objectives for the evening coming into sharp focus. A few minutes with the Chair of the House Sub-committee on Defence, share a joke and a drink with the assistant to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a check in with the Deputy Secretary for Military Intelligence. 

Then. 

Later. 

* * *

This wasn’t what she thought later had meant, Sam noted to herself as Jack pressed a finger to his lips, eyes dancing, and pushed open the door at the top of the staircase. 

They emerged on the roof of the Air and Space Museum and Jack led her around a plant room with the words **Warning Authorised Personnel Only** on the door. 

There were benches made from cinder blocks and planks and a railing all the way around the edge of the roof. Jack let go of her hand and let Sam drift to rest at the edge, looking down the Washington Mall.

Minutes passed and Sam lost herself in the wonder that was D.C., a place that represented, in physical form, the majesty and history of her country, of what could be achieved by good people doing great things. 

She barely noticed Jack’s hand come to rest in the hollow of her back as he placed his other hand on the rail beside her. 

“How did you...” Sam asked, eyes still on the nighttime spectacle before her. 

“When the 2017 eclipse happened, I was invited to a viewing party. It was held up here.”

“And I only got to view the eclipse from the car park of the office.”

“You work too much, that’s why,” Jack told her, pressing a kiss to her hair. “I bet you had plenty of invitations to viewing parties.”

“True,” Sam agreed, not really bothered that Jack had gone to one and she had just taken a half hour off to stand in the car park with their staff. 

“That’s why I’m tempted to steal you away for a few weeks. We have real stars in Minnesota.”

“You have a telescope at your cabin?”

“What else would I do with my evenings?” Jack replied. 

Sam could think of a few things, but she didn’t want to pry. “I don’t know. What else is there to do in the middle of nowhere?”

“Same things you can do here, just with better stars and bears.”

“Bears?” Sam laughed, “We have bears here, too. What about all those bear sightings out in Prince William County?”

“Okay,” Jack conceded. “But Minnesota does have a better nighttime view.” Tilting his head up, Jack peered at the orange yellow glow that was the night sky in D.C. “You can see the shadows in the Milky Way out there. Did you know that some cultures have stories about the shadows instead of the constellations?”

“No,” Sam replied following the angle of his gaze. 

“Come out and stay and I'll tell you about them.”

Sam looked sideways, trying to read Jack’s face. “You’re not working anymore.”

“Who said it was work? You need a vacation and I've got the place. Pro bono and all.”

The lightness that had carried her worries away with it came crashing down and Sam leaned into the railing, bringing her thoughts back to earth. “Don’t tease me, Jack. It’s not nice.”

Jack moved to lean on the rail beside her, close enough that Sam could feel his warmth but not actually touching. Silence stretched on between them for long minutes.

“Why are you here?” Sam asked, so softly that Jack wasn’t sure she’d spoken at first. 

“I left things behind when I moved to the cabin. One thing, in particular.” His eyes fell to her hands where they were clasped together as she leant on the rail.

Sam swallowed trying to make sense of what he was hinting at. She might be the leader in her particular field of astrophysics, but when it came to more earthly matters, she felt lost. The idea that Jack chose to come back, to be here, just for her, was so new, so tentative an idea that it threatened to shatter under the weight of her burgeoning emotions. 

“What are you telling me, Jack? I don’t understand. You miss working? You miss your clients? You miss sex? What?” Sam leaned her hip against the rail and turned to him. 

Jack turned to meet her, his hand resting beside hers on the rail. “Did I tell you that I was married, once?”

“No,” Sam shook her head. “I don’t ask you about your life and you don’t tell me, remember?” 

“Well...” he tapped his fingers on the cool metal, hesitating. 

Sam reached with her fingers, brushing his fingertips with her own, settling their motion. 

Soothed, Jack spoke. “When you work in the sex industry personal relationships are challenging. No matter what you do, how open minded you try to be emotions are inherent in the sexual exchange. What’s so special about sex that makes it intimate between two people who love each other versus two people who are just getting off with each other?”

“I didn’t realise that it was so hard for you,” Sam said softly. 

“It’s not. Really it’s not,” Jack rushed to tell her. “It’s something that I love doing, making someone feel like the centre of the universe, if only for one night.”

Sam let her fingers entwine with his. “You’re very good at it.”

“I know,” Jack answered sincerely. “But after I got divorced I decided no more personal relationships, just work.”

“How long has it been?”

“Twelve years. I thought...” Jack hesitated again looking out over the illuminated landscape. “I thought I was wearing out, coming to the end of my professional stamina.”

“But?” Sam prompted when the silence grew too large. 

“Out at the cabin I realised it wasn’t that. Or not just that.”

“You were lonely out there,” Sam observed. 

Jack turned back to her, a soft smile growing on his face. “Sam.”

Sam’s heart stopped for the second time that night as Jack held her gaze, shifting closer until the open edges of his jacket brushed her chest. 

“Can I kiss you?” He asked.

“Yes,” Sam nodded slightly, closing the last of the distance between them.

Lightly, as if she were made of glass, Jack’s fingers grazed Sam’s jawline, tracing the line of the bone as she tilted up towards him. He touched his lips to hers, making the barest amount of contact. Sam’s lips parted slightly drawing down a long breath and he pressed closer, emboldened, hand cupping her head, drawing her across that infinitesimal space that remained.

Sam was steadying herself on his arm as they broke apart, only to reach in again, this time the kiss was deeper, morphing from tentative and questioning to become an answer and then something more. Something new. 

“Come home with me,” Sam whispered, her face millimetres from his. 

“That was going to be my line,” Jack replied, hand still holding her close. 

“Your car?” 

“Uber.”

“Damn.”

“You have a car service, remember?” Jack prompted, amusement growing. 

“Right, yes. Forgot about that,” Sam murmured, transfixed by his lips, so close and yet not close enough.

Jack released her and tugged on her purse. “Phone. Call. Car. Home.”

Sam grumbled and reached into her purse for her phone, typing out a quick message. In less than a minute she received a reply and then thumbed it off. 

“Out front in five minutes,” Sam shared with Jack. “I suppose there’s one good thing about having a car and driver.”

“What’s that?” Jack wondered as he guided her to the stairs with a hand in the small of her back. 

“I have both my hands free for the ride home. And there’s a privacy screen.”

Jack pressed a kiss to her temple. “So there are some things in D.C. I don’t have in Minnesota.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuses, really, except that life has been draining for the past few months.
> 
> Please accept this peace offering with my love. 💜💜

Getting him naked right there in her front hallway was all Sam could think of. She’d held back in the car but the click of the door closing shattered the last of her restraint. 

Jack growled with pleasure as Sam pushed him back against the wall, sliding the jacket from his shoulders as she kicked off her heels. Broad hands at her waist steadied her as she pressed up on tip toes, their kisses deep and hungry.

A laugh escaped Jack as Sam muttered her frustration at his shirt buttons, the last of which refused to give way. With a tug it popped free, pinging against the hardwood floor, forgotten as soon as she stroked her hands up the bared skin of his chest. 

“ _Sam..._ ” 

Soft and low, she felt her name as a purr in his chest, a near living thing that pulsed into life between them. Inexorably, it pulled her gaze upwards until she was looking into the deep, amber pools of Jack’s eyes.

“ _Sam..._ “ That voice was doing something to her, sliding down her spine with a velvet touch, turning her frantic desire into something deeper, darker, _needier_...

What was this? This trembling sensation in her rib cage, a hundred butterflies yearning to be free?

Jack’s hands clasped her wrists and he began to walk her backwards, away from the front door.

“What... “ Was that her voice, that tremulous, uncertain noise?

“I need you to know,” Jack kept his eyes fixed on hers as he steered them into the living room, only stopping when her rear found the back of the settee. “To know that I was a fool ... “ The hem of her dress rose as he slid his hands into the long side slits of her dress, dragging it upwards until her hips were bare to the air and he could move the fabric out of the way. 

Caressing her thighs, Jack urged them apart, moving to stand between her knees. Supporting her back, he brushed his lips along the line of her throat and Sam found her head tilting to grant him more access. Barely clinging on to the words he was trying to say, her question came out breathy and somehow tight.

“What do you mean, a fool?”

A minute ago she had been ready to fall to her knees and suck him off right at her front door but now Jack was the one setting the pace, his words brushing against the sensitive flesh of her throat.

“A fool to think I could forget you just by skipping town.”

“Forget me?” The question was more of a squeak than coherent sound, but he was teasing her on purpose, nudging the strap of her dress until it fell from her shoulder, placing soft, open mouthed kisses on the exposed skin.

“A fool to think I would need you less the further away I got.”

“Minnesota?” Sam murmured as he tugged at the low back of her dress, dislodging the remaining strap and baring her other shoulder. The slow way he was kissing his way across her collarbone had her aching for the feel of him against her but when she tried to hook him closer with her ankle, he braced her legs open.

“I’ve been hungry. So hungry, Sam. All I want is you.”

It took nothing but a nudge of Jack’s nose for the rest of her dress to fall, exposing her breasts to him and she changed her mind about ridiculous dresses that required you wear nothing underneath.

The intensity in Jack’s expression made her clench with anticipation, growing ever wetter as he tenderly took her nipple between his lips.

“Hungry... “ Sam echoed, her own pent up desire releasing with a heady fluttering that left her light headed, a groan escaping her as Jack reacquainted himself with the flavour of her skin.

“I swear, Sam,” he whispered into the valley between her breasts, “I've never missed someone more. Going to taste - every - inch - tonight,” his last words punctuated by licks and kisses until he reached the opposite nipple and let out a heady moan as he suckled on it.

“Please... “ Sam murmured, unsure of what she was asking for, just knowing that she had to be soaking through her dress and into the cream velvet of the couch, the fabric of which was only pristine because she was never home to sit on it. 

“Jack, I -“ she broke off her words with a sigh of frustration.

The sudden change in tone cause Jack to pause and look up at her. With a slick pop he released her breast. “Sam?”

“I just - I want you to fuck me thoroughly and we’re both too old to do this on the back of a sofa.”

“Oh,” Jack’s expression was serious, almost disappointed. Then his eyes twinkled as her meaning sunk in, “Well, if it’s a thorough fucking you need,” he bit lightly at the mound of her breast, sending shivers to the hot, neglected flesh between her legs, “Then I had better deliver.”

Stepping back, he guided Sam to standing again, tweaking at her dress until it slid down her body and pooled on the floor. Hands going to his belt, he began to loosen it, not moving his eyes from her face. “After you,” he gestured upstairs and pulled his belt free in one motion.

“Leave those pants down here.” She turned and began to ascend the stairs, knowing he would get a good look at her behind.

“Yes’m,” Jack agreed, pushing pants and underwear off his hips as she began the ascent. “I’m gonna taste that ass, too, Samantha.”

“You better,” she called back, before turning at the landing.

Jack hurried to follow.

* * *

“Can never get enough of your ass,” Jack groaned, hands grasping at the round flesh of the woman riding his cock in reverse. The early morning sun illuminated her creamy skin with golden tones and Jack thought that he could never get enough of her, especially not here, on the large bed with both of them facing the huge picture window in his bedroom in Minnesota. 

He’d thought she was beautiful when they had met in D.C. but here she was even _more_. Lush and free here, a million miles from everywhere, in ways she could never be in the city. One day, one day he’d convince her to make the move out here permanent, instead of having who he thought of as the real Sam out here just one week in four.

But until then, he would be happy with this. This masterpiece of a woman clenching around his cock, her head bending back as she worked towards her climax, naked to the mountain and forests all around them, loose and wild just for him to witness.

She came with a cry as his thumb stroked the crack of her ass, pressing into the sensitive skin of her perineum, only accessible to him in this position or when he had his face between her thighs. 

The sounds she made pulled him over the edge with her, his fingers digging into the globe of her behind as he tensed and spilled, sinking into the satiation of afterglow as they both panted their way back to reality.

“I’ll never tire of that view,” Sam mumbled, still half crouched over him, her words near inaudible as she faced away.

He jiggled her behind just to watch her flesh wobble and hear her laugh. 

“I know what you’re thinking,” Sam turned towards him, swinging her leg over and laying down on his chest.

“Can’t help it if I’m an ass man,” he told her with a gentle slap to the body area in question.

“Lucky you fell in love with me, then,” Sam retorted, planting a quick kiss on his lips.

“Impossible not to,” Jack murmured, still feeling the deep contentment in his chest that came from knowing that she loved him, too. Curling his arms around her, he rolled them both as she tried to squirm away. Burying his face between her breasts, he mouthed wet kisses against her skin. “Did I mention I’m a boob guy, too?”

Sam laughed, full and hearty, her chest vibrating under him. “I noticed,” she teased, this banter between them familiar after a year of dating. 

“You don’t miss it?” She asked, suddenly serious.

“No.” There were no other words needed between them. _You don’t miss it, don’t miss all the other people._ “You’re more than enough for this man.” His grin grew impish as he considered, “Maybe _you_ should consider... “

“No!” Sam cried out, but she was laughing. “I’ve got enough to keep me busy between you and Stargate Enterprises... “

“Ah!” Jack admonished.

“What? You were the one who brought up work. That’s not violating the no-work-talk-in-bed rule.” Sam pouted a little, trying to look put out.

“Dangerously close,” Jack told her, pushing himself down her body, kissing at the flesh of her stomach until he could settle his shoulders between her legs, moving her thighs apart and lifting her knees. “I think you need a distraction.”

“Well, if you insist,” Sam said with an appreciative moan as his tongue parted her lips. “Make me forget, Jack.”

“You betcha,” he smiled before setting to to achieve just that. Being in bed with Sam was no work at all.


End file.
